Reinforced railway truck bolster



Dec. 9, 1969 c. E. TACK REINFORCED RAILWAY TRUCK BOLSTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 5, 1967 I :T'Im \\\\\\u W A NM T MTV II V Tum w L A f M w.m. J.... N ,C m 3 NN 4 g. 1 f gw Q Q I em N 0E United States Patent 3 482 531 REINFORCED RAILWAY TRUCK BOLSTER Carl E. Tack, Elmhurst, 11]., assignor to Amsted Industries Incorporated, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Aug. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 658,167

Int. Cl. B61f 16' US. Cl. 105-226 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In a railway truck bolster including elongated side walls interconnected by top and bottom walls, one or more box sections are provided in the internal structure of the bolster. The box sections preferably extend longitudinally at least beneath the center plate area of the bolster for improved strength qualities.

This invention relates to railway vehicles and more particularly to improvements in cast steel truck bolsters for such vehicles.

With the advent of larger railway vehicles and heavier loading of existing equipment, the need has arisen to structurally improve certain parts of the car truck that are subject to high stresses during actual service conditions. Various designs, such as the inclusion of large brake rod openings in the bolster may also require that additional reinforcement be added to other portions of the bolster.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide an improved cast bolster design with considerably improved strength qualities that is capable of withstanding severe dynamic service loading notwithstanding the presence of large brake rod openings therein.

Other objects will become apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top fragmentary view, partly in section, of a truck bolster that incorporates the features of the presently described invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side sectional view, taken substantially along section line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along section line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along section line 4-4 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 are sectional views showing several modifications of the present invention, said views being taken along a line corresponding to section line 5-5 of FIGURE 2.

With more particular reference to FIGURES 1-4, the bolster comprises a substantially horizontal top wall or compression element 10 and a bottom wall or tension element 12 that extends longitudinally upwardly from a central horizontal portion thereof. Elongated outer vertical side walls 14 extend between top and bottom walls 10 and 12, respectively, along the length thereof to form an elongated box structure of greater vertical depth in the central portion of the bolster. A center plate 16 is centrally located on the top wall 10, and a central aperture 18 is provided through the bolster for reception of a king pin (not shown). In addition, central aligned apertures 20 may be provided in each side Wall 12 for reception of a king pin retainer (not shown). Brake rod openings 22 are provided through the side walls 14 on both sides proximate the central vertical axis thereof, and secondary openings 23 and 25 are provided on both sides distal from said axis, it being understood that the bolster is substantially symmetrical about its transverse vertical center plane AA and longitudinal vertical center plane BB (FIG. 1).

Within the bolster and slightly beyond the outer circumference of the center plate 16, a pair of central vertical supports 24 are provided that extend between the top and bottom walls 10 and 12, respectively. Vertical supports 24 are located between and interconnect a pair of spaced internal vertical walls 26 that extend for the entire length of the bolster substantially parallel to the longitudinal center plane BB thereof. Transverse vertical webs 28 are provided between a central potrion of each side wall 14 and its adjacent internal vertical wall 26 along the transverse center plane AA of the bolster.

In order to provide greater strength to the structure described above, one or more box sections, indicated generally at 30 (FIGS. 3 and 4), are provided in the internal structure of the bolster and extend longitudinally in said bolster from the transverse vertical center plane thereof, preferably beyond the diameter of the center plate. In the preferred embodiment shown, the box sections 30 are transversely spaced and adjoin the top or bottom and an adjacent side wall of the bolster and are formed by the addition of a transverse web 32 between an external side wall 14 and its adjacent internal vertical wall 26, said web being spcaed from each of the top and bottom Walls 10 and 12, respectively. Especially where large brake rod openings 22 are to be provided, as shown in the present embodiment, it has been found preferable to include box sections 30 at both the top and bottom of the bolster, as shown.

As best shown in FIGURE 2, the transverse webs 32 forming the box sections 30 extend approximately between central vertical supports 24 and are curved to conform to the shape of the brake rod opening 22. Thus, in

' the presently shown embodiment, the webs 32 curve inwardly around the openings 22 from a substantially horizontal central section thereof.

It should be understood that many other combinations of box sections may be advantageously used to provide a benefit similar to that provided with the preferred embodiment described above. For example, as shown in FIG- URE 5, an additional transverse web 34 may interconnect the two internal vertical walls 26, resulting in an additional, central box section, generally indicated at 36, interconnecting the otherwise transversely spaced box sections 30.

Another embodiment is shown in FIGURE 6. Here, a single box section, indicated generally at 38, is formed by the provision of a single transverse web 40 between the internal vertical walls 26, with the other transverse webs 32 being omitted.

Still another embodiment is shown in FIGURE 7, wherein the aforementioned "box sections 30 are provided in the top of the bolster only, with the transverse webs 32 being omitted at the bottom. It should now be obvious that any combination of the above box sections, including one, two or three box sections at the top or bottom only, as well as one, two or three box sections at the top and bottom or any combination thereof would be feasible in the practice of the presently described invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a railway truck bolster including a top wall having a centrally disposed center plate, a bottom wall, and a pair of spaced side walls connected between said top and bottom walls, the improvement comprising a pair of spaced internal vertical walls connected between said top and bottom walls, and a horizontal web connected between said internal vertical walls and spaced from said top and bottom walls along its entire length, said horizontal web extending longitudinally within said bolster at least substantially the breadth of said center plate.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein a second horizontal web is connected between said internal vertical walls and is spaced from said top and bottom walls and said first horizontal web, said second horizontal web extending longitudinally within said bolster at least substantially beneath said center plate.

3. The invention according to claim 2 wherein a horizontal web is connected between each of said internal vertical walls and its respective adjacent side wall, said last-mentioned web extending longitudinally within said bolster beneath said center plate.

4. The invention according to claim 1 wherein a horizontal web is connected between each of said internal vertical walls and its responsive adjacent side wall, said last-mentioned web extending longitudinally within said bolster beneath said center plate.

5. In a railway truck bolster including a top wall having a centrally disposed center plate, a bottom wall, and a pair of spaced side walls connected between said to and bottom walls, the improvement comprising a pair of spaced internal vertical walls connected between said top and bottom walls and spaced from said side walls, a pair of substantially vertical support members extending between said top and bottom walls and between said internal vertical walls, said vertical support members being spaced longitudinally in said bolster from the transverse vertical center plane thereof, and at least one horizontal web con nected between said internal vertical walls and extending between said vertical support members, said horizontal web being entirely spaced along its entire length from said top and bottom walls.

6. In a railway truck bolster including a to wall having a centrally disposed center plate, a bottom wall, and a pair of spaced side walls connected between said top and bottom walls, the improvement in said structure comprising a pair of internal vertical walls spaced from said side walls and connected between said top and bottom walls, and a horizontal web connected between each of said internal vertical walls and its respective adjacent side wall, said horizontal webs extending longitudinally within said bolster at least substantially beneath the length of said center plate.

7. The invention according to claim 6 wherein a pair of said horizontal webs is provided in both the upper and lower portions of the bolster.

8. The invention according to claim 7 wherein a third horizontal web is connected between said internal vertical walls and extends longitudinally in said bolster beneath said center plate.

9. The invention according to claim 6 wherein a vertical web interconnects each of said side walls and its adjacent internal vertical wall along the transverse vertical center plane of said bolster.

10. The invention according to claim 6 wherein openings are provided in the side walls of said bolster, and wherein said horizontal webs curve around a portion of said openings.

11. The invention according to claim 6 wherein a pair of vertical support members are spaced longitudinally in said bolster from the transverse vertical center plane thereof and are connected between said top and bottom walls, and wherein said horizontal webs are connected between said vertical support members.

12. The invention according to claim 6 wherein a third horizontal web is connected between said internal vertical walls and extends longitudinally in said bolster beneath said center plate.

13. In a railway truck bolster including a bottom wall, a top wall having a centrally disposed center plate, and a pair of spaced side walls interconnecting said top and bottom walls, the improvement comprising a pair of internal vertical walls spaced from said side walls, a pair of vertical support members connected between said internal vertical walls and spaced longitudinally in said bolster from the transverse vertical center plane thereof, a vertical web connected between at least a portion of each internal vertical wall and its respective adjacent side wall, and at least one horizontal web connected between each side wall and its adjacent internal vertical wall, said horizontal web extending longitudinally in said bolster substantially beneath said center plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,705,575 3/1929 Lamont 10 5230 1,881,796 10/1932 Martin -230 1,957,570 5/1934 Wolfe 105230 1,969,131 8/1934 Hedgcock et a1 105-230 2,245,272 6/1941 Hammerstrom 105226 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner H. BELTRAN, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

